


Harry Potter and the Adventure of Adulthood

by aurora_chiroptera



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bisexual Ginny Weasley, Bisexual Harry Potter, Canon Character of Color, F/F, Gay Draco Malfoy, Gen, M/M, Other, POC Harry Potter, POC Hermione Granger, Trans Ron Weasley
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8721538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurora_chiroptera/pseuds/aurora_chiroptera
Summary: If Harry could go back in time and tell his ten-year-old self about the wonders of sharing a flat with his two best friends, he would. Together he, Hermione, and Ron face the best and most difficult challenges of growing up, now that most dark wizards are far out of their way.Non-Epilogue compliant, friendship heavy, slow burn romance fic about being finding one's place in the world.





	

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warning for discussions of past abuse

The Ministry courtroom as warm, comfortably so. Harry did not like the influence he had, but at times he was glad to have it as an option. He made sure of one thing: the use of dementors was banned for the trials of all Death Eaters and any accused of conspiring.

 

....“We can’t stoop to their level,” he had insisted to Kingsley.  


Kingsley has looked at Harry for a long moment and then nodded. No other words needed to be said on the subject. “Will you be attending any of the trials?” Kingsley asked, moving to sit behind the Minister’s desk.  


It felt right to see him there.  


Harry shrugged. “Only the ones, as a witness, I must.”  


Once more, he was met with an understanding nod.....

 

And so here Harry sat, so nervous that he was early to the last trial of the war. Lucky, so was Hermione, and together they huddled in the stands, trying to avoid prying eyes.

“Look at this one,” Hermione had a newspaper across her lap, the pictures unmoving. “Decent flat, right outside of London.”

Harry leaned over her shoulder, squinting at the grainy picture before focusing on the description. “Still not cheap,” he commented. “You know Ron will insist he pay an equal share of everything.”

Hermione sighed and said almost as dreamily as Luna, “But it is so close to a library.”

Harry couldn’t help but grin, and put one arm over her shoulder for a brief, tight squeeze. He honestly did not know what he would do with out her. “Add that to the “must have for first flat” list.”

Hermione caught his eye and smiled. That vanished into seriousness after just a moment. “Harry...”

Harry pulled his limbs back in closer to himself, not liking her tone of worry. “Yeah?”

“I wanted to tell you that... I... I support whatever you say today,” Hermione continued, focusing now away from him. “I do not mean that I will fully agree, not after all the years of cruelty I have dealt with. But I will support you in what you do to help them both.”

Harry took a shaky breath. “Thank you.”

She reached out and patted his hand, before pointing out another flat that she had circled for her, Harry, and Ron to share together. The tension Harry had been holding started to fade into background noise, until the prisoners were brought out.

Narcissa’s head was held high, and Draco’s was bowed low. Lucius had long been sentenced and put away in Azkaban. Harry had made sure of that.

But he had a very different intention coming here today.

Crimes were read and argued against. Harry listened to it all, and with great attention. He had done much of his own research, apparently more than the assigned attorney had. Part of this was because he had to ensure Lucius’ life sentence. What he found was only confirmed suspicions that been growing long in Harry’s heart.  
He was the last witness called. He drank the small vile of truth serum offered. “I am here to stand as a character witness for Narcissa and Draco Malfoy.” His voice surprised himself as it boomed over the room. Everyone had gone so quiet once he had stood, eyes focused now on the Chosen One.

With one glance back at Narcissa and Draco, Harry began to lay out a case that was not his own, but was at times too close for comfort. He told a tale of two vulnerable people who were abused, emotionally and physically, by the now jailed member of the house. He spoke of how that changed the two free Malfoy’s, how it turned them into pawns in a war that they did not want to be part of. How it made them act, in ways that were against their nature. That while they must carry some blame, they must also be given room to redeem themselves, not to be sent back to their abuser.

Throughout, Harry kept himself from flinching, imagining his own uncle’s first. He managed not cringe when his words brought back all the times Dumbledore groomed him, just so he could die. Instead, he looked the jury in the eye and fought to keep Draco Malfoy free.

And he won.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic that I have been building in my heart for many years now. I thought it was time to get it all down. I am hoping to write most of it this month, if not finish it. That said, at the moment there is no exact posting schedule. But it should be rather quick and consistent.


End file.
